ADDRESSES DELIVERED 



AT THE 



INAUGURATION 



OF 



REV. WILLIAM C. EGBERTS, D.D. LL.D. 



AS 






Pbesident of Lake Forest Univek^ity, 



JUNE ^^, 1887. 



CHICAGO: 

Geo. K. Hazlitt & Co., Printers, 173 and 174 Clark St. 

1887. 



ADDRESSES DELIVERED 



AT THE 



INAUGURATION 



OF 



EEY. WILLIAM C. EGBERTS, D.D. LL.D. 



AS 



President of Lake Forest University. 



JUNE ^.^, 1887. 



CHICAGO: 

Geo. K. Hazlitt & Co., Printers, 172 and 174 Clark St. 



D 



sl1 



%■ 



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9.'- 






A GLAA^CE 



FOUR ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION, 



REV. SIMON J. Mcpherson, d.d. 



A GLANCE AT FOUR ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION. 



An enterprisina: young Review has recently persuaded 
nearly a dozen leading American educators and literary men to 
write articles, " frankly personal," on the theme: "How I was 
Educated." As I will not weary you, before the real orations 
of the day begin, with a formal address, I shall confine my 
remarks chiefly to a partial analysis of their interesting state- 
ments. I can do so the more gladly because they apparently 
confirm an old opinion that the principal elements of a success- 
ful college education cluster around four essential points. 

The first nucleus — preliminary, if you like — is made up 
of one's original family influences. Like President Dwight, 
we may well accept that keen dictum: The first rule in edu- 
cation is to select the right father and mother. Accordingly, 
ex-President Ivendrick observes: "My education began in the 
cradle, and back of it. Though my father died when I was 
but three years old, I can see how largely he determined mj 
individuality and history." Mothers are even more influential, 
Augustine, Chrysostom and the Wesleys, Napoleon, Madame 
de Stael and Marie Antoinette, instantly recall Monica, Are- 
thusa, Susannah Wesley, "Madame Mere" Letitia, Mad- 
ame I^ecker and Maria Theresa. But I need not urge the 
notion of this " original " bias in a Presbyterian institution, 
where every student is known to betray distinct traces of Adam 
and Eve. We all know that the laws of heredity will assert 
themselves. 

The chief modifications of these laws too, are worked out in 
home training. Dr. Edward Everett Hale gratefully says: I 
had the great, good fortune to be born in the middle of a large 
family. And all well meaning parents would do well could 



they arrange to give that place to each of the nine or thirteen 
children." Another good hint to parents is also dropped by 
that distinguished celibate, the late Archbishop Hughes : " Give 
me the training of a boy until he is ten, and you may then do 
what you will with him." Roman Catholic practice will show 
whether this theory has any truth. Heredity and early train- 
ing certainly determine vdtal qualities. One is health; and 
without a good physical basis a student is about as successful 
as a lame race-horse. Another is habit, at once the sea into 
which the streams of life empty, and the fountain out of which 
the streams of character and destiny flow. A third is the 
right balance of ambition, which finds its best equipoise in the 
circle of parental and filial impulses. It is the home that 
teaches us 

" To sit, self-governed, in the fiery prime 
Of youth, obedient at the feet of law." 

To put it in more homely phrase, it is the home that fur- 
nishes at least the raw material of education. Unless the 
home lays down the right foundations, the university will be 
comparatively powerless. 

A second vital factor in education is found in the 
stimulas of healthy student associations. It is probably true, 
as one has said, that you can get more facts out of a ten-dol- 
lar encyclopaedia than any person can acquire by four years at 
college. But the business of changing a crude boy " into a 
well-trained gentleman is doubtless more simply and certainly 
done in a good college than anywhere else; " and a good col- 
lege is one that has good students. It is a miniature world. 
President Angell attests the examj^le of hard work and the 
inspiration of manly pur]30se that student-life gave him. A 
person's ideals and aims are largely determined by his sur- 
roundings. Chicago's commercial atmosphere usually produces 
business men. But Mr. Thomas "Wentworth Higginson ac- 
counts for his literary career by the fact that he was " born 
and cradled " in the college atmosphere of Cambridge, the 
home of professional authors. But without dwelling on the 
general facts, let me mention two special advantages from these 
associations. For one, I see a peculiar advantage in the pas - 



times of student days. Much scorn is now expressed for col- 
lege athletics. Of course, they may be abused to the neglect 
of study, or even to the injury of health. But there are dan- 
gers on the other side. A book-worm, whose heart's juices 
are dried up, is a monstrosity. We continue to be young only 
as we retain capacity for guiltless enjoyment. President An- 
drew D. White, who sat behind George W. Smalley in Yale's 
boat during the first race with Harvard, says truly that " the 
most detestable product of college life is the sickly cynic. 
Students need healthy games, guarded only by common-sense 
rules. It is better, even, that an occasional bone should be 
broken, than that graduates should live as puny invalids and 
die prematurely of nervous prostration. 

Then again I like to see students associated in active, old- 
fashioned literary societies; for these teach them how to apply 
the acquirements of the class-room, how to focus their ideas 
and how to think on their feet. Presidents Barnard and 
Robinson testify with enthusiasm to the help which they re- 
ceived from such college societies. We all know that many of 
the public and professional men of England were debtors to 
" the Union " in Oxford. Yale I think, does not now furnish 
as large a proportion of popular leaders as in the days when 
'^Linonia" and the "Brothers in Unity" were prosperous. 
One of the chief distinctions of Princeton for nearly 125 years, 
has been found in the admirable " Whig" and " Clio " halls, 
which constitute the strongest single influence in the college. 
I devoutly hope that Lake Forest may have large and flourish- 
ing debating societies. 

The third necessity of an educational institution is to 
have inspiring teachers. So far as internal forces go, this is 
the prime essential. A college may be great without great 
age, great endowments or great buildings, but never without 
great teachers. Germany understands this fact, and students 
flock to that university which has the best teachers, or perhaps 
only one or two of the best. Arnold alone made the name of 
Eugby known over the world. Jowett has rendered Baliol 
distinguished among the colleges of Oxford. Horace Mann, 
single-handed, lifted little Antioch into notice. The genius of 



8 

the elder Pierce, of Harvard, " gave a charm," says Mr. Hig- 
ginson, " to the studj^ of mathematics which for me has never 
waned." President Bartlett confesses his debt to the " pow- 
erfully educating influence" of Prof. Park, of Andover. 
President D wight says of Dr. ]^athanial W. Taylor, of New 
Haven, " To me he was inspiring in a degree beyond my 
power to describe. I felt that I must at the earliest possible 
moment take up the subject, whatever it might be, on which 
he was speaking, and make it a matter of special investiga- 
tion." Dr. Wayland reproduced some part of himself in the 
character of almost every one of his students. "His robust 
personality," says President Angell " was felt throughout the 
whole life " of Brown University. By one ten-minute speech, 
at the only time the young man ever saw him, he fixed the 
line of President White's whole career. Dr. McCosh has put 
new blood into every artery of Princeton college. That grand 
educator, whose body is to be put at rest among the Berk- 
shires to-morrow, has impressed himself through his students 
upon our national life. We are all ambitious to see our new 
President become the McCosh or Hopkins of the l!^orth-west. 

Teaching power is as noble a genius as the world knows. It 
requires large and accurate scholarship, of course, but even 
more, it requires wdde knowledge of human nature, sympathy 
with youth, accessibility and warmth of temperament, intimate 
association with students, and a mighty, magnetic character. 
I am thrilled with joy and hope when I observe that Lake 
Forest already possesses some admirable teachers, and that, 
mainly through the wise insight of our admired President, she 
is bent on securing others. 

The fourth necessity, for at least univ^ersity education, 
is an institution equipped with resources for communicating 
the whole circle of ascertained knowledge. That is the char- 
acteristic of a true university. I am amused when I see the 
efforts of certain colleges to blossom on the instant into uni- 
versities. One seems to think that the only requirement is to 
change its name. Another fancies that it has only to let boys 
and girls choose studies for themselves while they are still 
very young. A third simply tries to rearrange its old ma- 



9 

terials, like that Board in Indiana that wanted to erect a High 
School building. After consideration, the Board expressed its 
conclusions in a series of three resolutions, as follows: Re- 
solved, first, that we build a new High School; Eesolved, 
secondly, that in building it, we use the bricks of the old 
school building; Resolved, thirdly, that the children occupy 
the old building until the new one is finished. But the right 
way to have a University is by providing university resources : 
as, for example, libraries and museums and laboratories which 
keep pace with the literature and natural history and art and 
science of the world. It must not disdain the treasures of the 
classics, for they are not only rich in themselves, but they are 
" the chief instrument," as Prof. Harris says, " in the acquire- 
ment of new ideas," and the roots from which our entire 
modern civilization is derived." I*^or on the other hand, may 
it neglect the modern sciences, for that would tempt educa- 
tion, which normally leads, to lag behind the universal pro- 
gress of other things. As the present field of knowledge is 
already very wide, and ever rapidly expanding, the curricula 
of a genuine university should be exceedingly extensive, con- 
sistently conservative of ascertained truths, and wisely hospi- 
table towards new discoveries. But while it offers exhaustive 
instruction in its various courses, it must impress upon every 
individual student the fact that graduation is not the finishing 
touch, but the real " commencement," of education. Ko one's 
education is completed in this world. Please God, heaven 
itself may turn out to be a supernal and unending "post- 
graduate course." 

But I must not trespass upon the preserves of the inaugural 
address, for which you are eagerly waiting, by attempting to 
define the scope of a university. Let me close by simply 
intimating my profound conviction that a true university 
should be truly Christian, for Christian character is the ulti- 
mate of all education, and Jesus Christ is the source, the sum 
and the ideal of the supreme teaching forces of the whole 
world. 



ADDEESS OF HON. WILLIAM BROSS, 

ON PRESENTATION OF THE KEYS OF THE INSTITUTION TO 

PRESIDENT ROBERTS, 

AND THE president's REPLY. 



ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM BEOSS. 



The Hon. William Bross, in presentino^ the keys of the 
institution to Dr. Roberts, said: "It is made my pleasant 
duty, in behalf of the Trustees of Lake Forest University, to 
place in your hands as its President the keys of the institution. 
The act of itself is of little moment; but that for which these 
keys are the symbol to the indi\ddual pupils, hosts of whom 
we fondly hope will commit themselves to your care and 
instruction, is of very great importance. You are to teach 
them to unlock the store-house of the knowledge and wisdom 
both of the past and of the present. They are to be our repre- 
sentatives to carry to the next generation whatever of correct 
principles and right influence this generation has to send for- 
ward to the men who are to come after us. You and your 
associates are to fit them to become leaders and teachers of all 
that can elevate and promote the progress of the Central States 
of the American Union. 

His information is narrow in regard to the vast extent and 
resources of the States that surround us, who is not assured 
that within the next century tlie population, the wealth, the 
influence, and the power of this great l^ation are to find their 
focus around the southern end of Lake Michigan? How vast, 
then, how potential and far-reaching are the responsibilities 
which are by this act devolved on your wisdom and the vigor 
which you should exercise in the discharge of your duties to 
the friends and patrons of this institution, and in fact to the 
great Northwest, whose millions will look to this University 
for leaders in all the learned professions, and in the moral, the 
political and the social relations of society. All these topics 
will, I am sure, be most ably discussed by the learned divines 
who are to follow me. I only add that the plans of the Trus- 
tees, seconded as we believe they are and will be by the solid 
men of Chicago and of the IN'orthwest, embrace extensions and 



14 

endowments of the most liberal character. While the primary 
departments and the college will remain at Lake Forest — one 
of the most retired and beautiful spots in the country — a most 
efficient and able institution, Rush Medical College and the 
JSTorthwestern College of Dental Surgery are now integral 
departments of Lake Forest University, and those of theology 
law, and philosophy will doubtless soon follow. It is determined 
to place Lake Forest University on a par with the leading col- 
leges and universities of the seaboard states. The Central States 
must educate their own sons if they would have men to control 
their wealth and their influence uj^on the Nation and the world ; 
men who have grown up among them and who know their 
wants and aspirations and how to realize their noblest pur- 
poses." 



PRESIDENT ROBERTS' REPLY. 

Honored and Deak Sib: — It affords me great pleasure to 
receive these keys from your hands. I am deeply conscious 
of the responsibility they bring with them and the heavy task 
which they symbolize. You have just intimated that they are 
given me for the purpose of opening to the students the treas- 
ures of wisdom and knowledge; but, I do not suppose any of 
you will be offended if I use some of them to unlock the 
hearts of parents to send us their sons and daughters, and to 
open the purses of the friends of education to supply us with 
the means necessary to carry on the work of the University. 

Did I not know the ability, the honor, and nobleness of the 
Trustees whom you represent, and with whom I am to work 
in the future, I would not be willing to receive these keys. 
But with the assurance you have given of their hearty co- 
operation and sympathy, I accept the keys with pleasure, and 
promise to use them to the best of my ability to advance the 
cause of hio-her education in the ISTorthwest. 



CHARGE DELIVERED TO PRESIDENT ROBERTS, 

IN BEHALF OF THE BOARD OP TEUSTEJES, 

BY BEY. HE BRICK JOHNSON, D. B.LL.B. 



THE CHARGE DELIVERED TO PRESIDENT ROBERTS. 



My Dear Brother: — You are here and now officially put 
in trust of great possibilities. This Presidency is, to-day, an 
immense oft'er of Providence. " Who knoweth whether thou 
art come to the kingdom for such a time as this! " 

You will remember that something like a year ago empow- 
ered by the Board of Trust of this Institution, I sought you in 
your Metropolitan Chair of Missions in ISTew York City, and 
undertook to persuade you that God had other and larger work 
for you at Lake Forest — work more suited to your varied pow- 
ers, and big with opportunity. It was something of an under- 
taking. The venture seemed to some audacious. Our best 
friends doubted the issue. Your honored colleague in the 
Home Mission Secretaryship heard the proposition with 
amazement. You yourself, though approachable and receptive, 
were incredulous. But the situation grew and grew on you as 
the days went by. It finally got its grip on your judgment 
and conscience, and you came and saw and were conquered. 

Here in this public presence, and in this inauguration hour, 
I make bold to renew and emphasize the estimate then put 
upon the Presidency of Lake Forest University, and to say 
that the claims of this large trust were not one whit exagger- 
ated. Brilliant foretokens already illumine our sky in vindi- 
cation of that word. The air is thick with prophecy that from 
these classic groves there will surely and speedily go forth a 
spirit that will uplift and glorify Chicago's spirit of traffic, 
and mingling with the barest and rudest utilities of this vast 
trade-center, make them blossom into beauty in the divine 
companionship. 

Doubtless, in calling you to the leadership of this University, 
we have taken some risk. For, alas, you are a clergyman — 
honored of men as a minister of the gospel. And in a recent 



18 

number of the Popular Science Monthly it is magisteriallj 
declared that " to give clergymen any longer the controlling 
power in faculty or among trustees, (sic) or in the presidential 
office, is to interpose the most effectual means to arrest pro- 
gress in higher education, to defeat the healthy growth of 
intelligence, and to dwarf and shrivel the characters of the 
students " ! The article is by Daniel Greenleaf Thompson, 
and is a virtual notice served upon clergymen that " they 
must no longer expect to dominate the educational sphere." 
It is true that the students of such Presidents as Dwight and 
Wayland, and Anderson and Hopkins and McCosh, are just 
such " shriveled dwarfs " as the country would like to have 
the educational woods full of : it is true you have had excep- 
tional administrative training, and are of scholarly taste and 
habit, and have been long officially and intimately indentified 
with "old Princeton," and have helped to define and adjust 
from time to time its chairs of instruction, and are familiar 
with internal college organization and discipline, — but you are 
a clergyman! And all clergymen, according to the dictum 
of the Monthly, " are under retainers," and " disqualified by 
reason of interest." The trouble is, not that they believe 
something, but that the something they believe is the gospel. 
If they would empty the universe of God, and pin their faith 
to protaplasm, they would be eminently qualified to conduct 
educational processes, without bias, and in the interests of 
truth. But because they accept a theory of the universe that 
makes Deity conceivable without a stomach, and mind con- 
ceivable without a cerebrum, they are not "fit," as judges of 
truth, to be put in control of Colleges and Universities. To 
make Presidents of them is " to take the most effectual means 
to dwarf and shrivel the character of the students "! 

Well, we have taken that risk. And if the University has 
thereby gone and hanged itself, I reckon a good many other 
Institutions would be glad to go and do likewise. 

And now, very beloved brother, let me briefly emphasize 
some things to your thought as you step through this gateway 
of inauguration to a rare and blessed opportunity. 

I charge you, first, to see to it that the atmosphere of the 



19 

University is 'pervaded by the scholarly sjnrit. Institutions 
of learning are not organized to develop the character and 
qualities of manhood, as such; or even the character and quali- 
ties of christian manhood; but the character and qualities of 
scholarly manhood. Manhood — christian manhood — may be 
had elsewhere. But the seats of learning are the natural and 
appointed fields for high literary and scientific culture. If the 
College or University does not stir the scholarly instinct and 
form the scholarly habit and fire the scholarly ambition and 
command the scholarly achievement, it is a failure, as a Col- 
lege or University. It may be an excellent nursery for piety, 
or a good school of morals, or a discipline in social amenity 
and order. But no one of these is distinctive, furnishing a 
raison d'' etre. The characterizing feature of a University, 
that sets it apart and stamps it, is scholar liness. Let this be 
unmistakably apparent here. Ko details of administration, no 
executive management of outward and material appliances, no 
boom of brick and mortar, of building and apparatus, must be 
allowed to dull the keen sensitiveness of the Presidential nerve 
to the scholarly spirit of the institution. By you will 
largely be determined the sweep and power and fineness of this 
spirit. Just as you are awake to it, and possessed with it, and 
inspired by it, will it permeate all the departments, and make 
itself felt in the very air. The President need not teach widely, 
either as to amount of time or variety of subjects ; but when- 
ever he takes a chair of instruction, he must show himself the 
scholar there, by the fineness and wideness and wealth of his 
mind, and by his exact and scholarly methods. And through 
and through the professional and student ranks he must spread 
the contagion of his example. Every nook and cranny of this 
university should feel the touch of a scholarly chief. It is 
only a deserving recognition of the work of your immediate 
predecessor in the Presidential office to say that the dullest 
student could not sit long in Dr. Gregory's class-room without 
feeling the brace and tone of his intellectual vigor. To his 
stimulating presence and exacting scliolarship, along with a 
sympathetic and responsive scholarship on the part of col- 
leagues in the Faculty, it is due, that this institution, though 



20 

an infant of days, already ranks in some of its departmental 
work, with the best of our eastern seats of learning, I charge 
you to cherish and perpetuate and intensify this scholarly 
spirit as a sacred trust. 

My next point of emphasis is that the institution, in all the 
earlier stages of its curriculum, and in the whole ronnd of its 
prescribed courses, should be kept rigidly in the lines of 
intellectual disGvpline. The cry for the " practical," as it is 
called, is bringing a pressure to bear upon our higher semin- 
aries of learning, threatening the exclusive reign of physical 
science, and a mere mechanical work that looks at nothing 
beyond the loaves and hshes of a material life. 

JSTow, I take it, the bulk of the business here, for years at 
least, will be, not to make men machinists or engineers, or 
scientific agriculturists, or doctors of medicine, and law, and 
theology so much, as mental athletes with trained powers, hav- 
ing the mastery of their own faculties, so that with this disci- 
plined intellectual force as a base, they may fit themselves for 
any particular profession or calling, and be creditably passed 
on to any one of what I trust will one day be our completed 
and splendid cluster of schools under the Lake Forest Univer- 
sity system, viz., the school of medicine, of arts, of dental 
surgery, of mining and metallurgy, of engineering, of theology 
and of law. 

My insistance, therefore, is that the students who gather 
here be educated chiefly because they are men, with men's dig- 
nities and possibilities and destinies, and not chiefly because 
they are to practice law, or make railroads, or go to Congress. 
I charge you, therefore, to do what in you lies to make and 
keep this scholarly retreat an intellectual drill-room, equal to 
the very best there is in America. Let it be your joy and 
pride that any student coming here, may surely get, whatever 
else he may fail to get, a discipline of his whole nature, a sym- 
metry of development and power of thought, a talent for using 
his talents, as thoroughly complete and serviceable as that 
given by any other college in the land. 

My third suggestion in this official charge is, that you never 
allow it to be doubted by any student within these walls that 



21 

truth is sought here for its own sake, no matter where it leads, 
what loss it brings, or what old beliefs it challenges. Liberty 
of investigation is the very life of intellectual progress. But 
liberty is not license. A disinterested search for truth in the 
very love of it and for its own sake, does not demand that 
"doubt should be favored and stimulated," as Thompson says, 
or that we commit intellectual suicide by dubbing as " pure 
nonsense " our primary beliefs after the manner of Frederic 
Harrison; or that we first robe ourselves in the don't-know 
humility of agnosticism, like Huxley ; or that we talk of the 
Absolute and Eternal, " as if he were altogether such a one as 
ourselves — as if he were the man in the next room." 

But while liberty of investigation does not involve this wild 
license of doubt and denial, it does demand a fearless readiness 
to accept the facts and proved conclusions of science, assured 
that " earth's crammed with heaven," and science packed with 
God, and only its guesses and imaginations are anti-theistic. 
I charge you, my dear brother, dare to be known, and to let 
this institution be known, as ready for Truth, wherever it leads, 
and whatever it costs ; and as severely confident that " the 
widest physic cannot harm our metaphysic." 

My fourth and last point of insistance is that the whole man 
he kept in view in the educational vrocesses of which you are 
now to be the determining head and the animating spirit. Pure 
intellect is not all that needs development. Mere mental dis- 
cipline may be the most effectual weapon of mischief and dis- 
order. Knowledge is not an ultimate good, apart from its ends 
and aims. " Of all parodies upon learning, says James Thorold 
Rogers, " none is more grotesque than that which makes it an 
intellectual refinement or enjoyment." The grotesque passes 
over to the vicious where the learning does not make men bet- 
ter able to do their duty, and more willing also to do it. If 
one would see human reason drunk with pride and worshiping 
itself, let him look at the education from wliich men have 
soug-ht to eliminate God. 

This institution must stand for truth and righteousness; 
and against what has been called " the progressive seculariza- 
tion of colleges," We have no sympathy with that weak and 



sickly sentinientalism respecting the transcendent spirituality 
of religion that would divorce it from learning. We believe 
the liberty of the sons of God is a good deal more conducive to 
intellectual vigor and breadth than what has been called " the 
inglorious liberty of the sons of matter." We want it known 
that the old faiths are held here — a First Cause, the person- 
ality of man, the immateriality and immortality of the soul* 
the supremacy of conscience, the absolute nature of ethics. 
We believe that man is encompassed with duties, that the 
word " ought " is the most tremendous word in human lan- 
guage, that the imperial sanction of conscience cannot be re- 
solved " into a brain track," that the existence of God and a 
future life " are necessary postulates of morality." 

To drop these old spiritual dogmas out of the instruction of 
the University, and to be content with an educational process 
that does not reach any roots down into man's spiritual nature 
would ere long and inevitably yield us a harvest of animalism. 
Certainly no elements of moral force can be derived from 
chemistry, natural history, automatic organisms, fortuitous 
atomic combinations, cerebral secretions, and a Godless me- 
chanism whether of Universe or Consciousness, 

With all this, my dear brother, you are believed to be in 
fullest sympathy. I emphasize it here this day that it may be 
thrust to the sight and heart of all of us as the unchangeable 
attitude of the university, and as marking the cons])icuous 
progress of its founders and patrons. 

I charge you, therefore, as my last word, that you jealously 
guard the institution against all encroachments of an atheistic 
materialism — that you do what in you lies to keep it a Univer- 
sity, which, whatever its enlargement, and however widened 
and varied its curriculum and multiplied its individual col- 
leges, shall forever make Christianity felt within all its walls 
like a pervasive presence, and the chief glory of which shall be 
that over the best and broadest culture that can possibly be 
commanded for it there dominates a christian faith. 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 



THE IDEAL, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. 



REV. W. G. ROBERTS, D.D. LL.D. 



THE IDEAL AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. 



Gentlemen of the Boards Mernhers of the Faculty, Students 
of the University, Friends and Patrons: 

The history of the steps taken to bring me to the position I 
now occupy is soon told. Wliilst engaged in assigning fields 
of labor to Plome missionaries, or in writing letters of condol- 
ence to stricken households, the honored Trustee who has 
just charged me, called my attention to the vacant Presidency 
of Lake Forest University, and assured me that he was clothed 
with authority to urge upon me its acceptance. Being satisfied 
with the noble work in which I was then engaged the kindly 
offer made but little impression. Not until it was repeated with 
emphasis did I consent to devote a moment's time to its consider- 
ation. Having soon to pass through Chicago on my way to 
Alaska, I agreed to meet as many of the Trustees as could be 
brought together on a hot summer day. To my surprise ten of 
them had assembled in one of the parlors of the Sherman House 
to receive me. The interview was pleasant, the discussion on 
College matters thorough, and the conclusion reached satisfact- 
ory to both parties. 

A committee was appointed to draft resolutions embodying 
the points agreed upon, and the conditions on which I had 
consented to consider the proffered position. They met 
my approval, and, after receiving the Board's endorse- 
ment, were telegraphed after me to the Pacific Coast. On 
their receipt at Victoria, British Columbia, I wrote to the 
President of the Board that I would relinquish my contem- 
plated trip through California and return East to ascertain the 
condition of the University, and its prospects of growth and 
usefulness. I fulfilled my promise, revisited Lake Forest, and 
satisfied myself that there was here a favorable opening for 
one of the best institutions of learning in America. 



26 

Having accepted the presidency and received the keys of 
the University, I am now expected to deliver, according to 
custom, an inaugural address. It is usual on such an occasion 
to discuss an important topic connected with higher education, 
to set forth some phase of College w^ork, or to throw out hints 
as to the policy to be pursued by the incoming adminstration. 
It is my purpose to combine, as far as possible, all three under 
the general theme of The Ideal American TJnwersity. 

Diversities of view are entertained in regard to what this 
ought to be. Some contend that it should be an exact copy of 
the British or of the Continental University, and others hold 
that the United States need nothing better than our well tried 
American College. In my judgment both views are incorrect. 
ISTations like individuals possess their peculiar traits of charac- 
ter, and have their special mission to fulfill. Hence, the sys- 
tem of education best adapted to each is that which will de- 
velop most thoroughly its powers and prepare it to perform 
its full duty in the world. The past history, the present con- 
dition, and the evident genius of the Germans show that they 
have a very different mission from that assigned to Englishmen 
and Americans. By reason of their country's position, they 
are not given to colonizing remote countries nor are they re- 
quired to subjugate extensive territories, and consequently 
they are not called upon to prepare men to become Viceroys 
of dependent colonies or Governors of powerful states. They 
are a quiet, plodding people that love learning for its own sake 
and find their supreme delight in its acquisition irrespective 
of its practical value. Hence the German University has been 
established and conducted in accordance with these natural 
traits of character. Its course of study does not aim at build- 
ing up a strong man or at preparing him for the professions, 
or the active duties of life, but simply at making him a great 
thinker. Its system of instruction is not arranged to produce 
preachers, lawyers, doctors, poets or painters. In it, theory 
and practice are carefully distinguished, the former only being 
regarded as falling within the sphere of the University. 
"Taking up the four faculties in order, theology, law, medicine 
and philosophy, and watching them at work, we shall perceive," 



27 

says Prof. Hart, " that the evident tendency of their method is 
to prodnce theologians rather than pastors, jurists rather than 
lawyers, theorizers in medicine rather than practitioners, in- 
vestigators, scholars, and speculative thinkers rather than 
technologists and school teachers." To those acquainted with 
the increasing needs of the nineteenth centnr}?^ this system has 
its evident defects. It must be conceded that our higher insti- 
tutions of learning should afford more facility for the acqui- 
sition of learning for its own sake than they do at present, and 
for original investigation, but they should -not fail to afford 
also an opportunity to learn how to apply the results of both 
to the elevation of national character and the progress of the 
world. A nation like oars whose first mission is to transform 
half a continent of treeless prairies and extended plains into 
fruitful fields must have institutions which teach not only 
theories and great principles, but also practice and the appli- 
cation of those principles to the elevation of human life. 
Many of the most advanced scholars in Germany are of the 
opinion that their Universities need extensive reform in thi^ 
very direction, if they are to do the highest good of which they 
are capable. Dr. Helmholtz, w^hilst he was Kector of the 
University of Berlin, declared that their academic freedom 
caused a large percentage of students of fair ability to sink in- 
to obscurity and uselessness. The late distinguished Dr. Cor- 
ner lamented the absence of the ethical element in the higher 
institutions of Germany, and Dr. Holzendorff strongly advocat- 
ed the introduction of the dormitory system of England and 
America in order to bring individuality into their university 
life. Others equally distinguished have openly declared that 
if the present German system is not modified to meet the ad- 
vanced condition of the world as well as the progress of system- 
atic knowledge it will become effete. Whether these fears re- 
garding the future of the German University are well founded 
or not, there is certainly enough in them to show that it would 
be unwise in us to adopt in all its details the German Univers- 
ity as our ideal institution. 

Kor would it be wiser in us to copy slavishly the system of 
education in voffue in Great Britain and Ireland. Though our 



28 

circumstances and mission in the world more closely resemble 
those of the English nation, than of the German, yet they are 
not so nearly identical as to justify us in concluding that what 
has proved the best system for England would prove the best 
also for America. It cannot be denied that the English Uni- 
versity is inferior in many respects to the German, neverthe- 
less, it is by no means clear that the German would have 
turned out better statesmen, soldiers, diplomatists and vice- 
roys than those who to-day shine like stars in English history. 
" However justly," says President Porter, " we may criticise or 
complain of the Universities of England for doing so little for 
science, or philosophy, or even for the best kind of philology, 
we ought never to overlook what they have done for the train- 
ing of the men who have wrought the deeds, uttered the 
thoughts and inspired the sentiments which have made Eng- 
land great," The most prominent characteristic of the Eng- 
lish system of education is concentration. There are twenty- 
two separate colleges in Oxford and eighteen in Cambridge 
brino-ino^ too-ether a lar^e number of Reo-ius Professors, Fel- 
lows, tutors and students. The aim in view by their course 
of study is to teach men how to bring all their powers of mind 
and body to act on a task that has to be performed at once. 
Their enforced recitations day after day for many consecutive 
years are admirably adapted to ensure self-control. These help 
them to despise slight indispositions whether of body or of 
mind, to set aside inertia and head ache, and turn from the 
novel and the newspaper, the gymnasium and the rowing 
match, in order to meet the demands of the teacher and the 
class-room. " If, " according to the German view of education, 
" this is not the way to treat the pupil as a man, it is the way," 
in the words of another, '• to make him a man with a man's 
command over his intellect, and a man's capacity to summon 
and direct his energies at will, and to bring them up to the 
demand of every occasion. It is on account of this very result 
that the English University system has done so much for its 
leading men and made out of them the mature selfpoised, 
and efficient men of action." We could not, in this 
country, if it were thought desirable, have such a concentration 



29 

of Colleges as that of Oxfoi-d or Cambridge. The area of the 
British Isles admits of it, but our widely extended country 
renders it inexpedient, if not impracticable. Whilst concen- 
tration of Colleges might have its advantages in America as 
well as in England, the expense of travel would prevent four- 
fifths of our students from enjoying the privileges of a liberal 
education. Our class-room system is equally adapted with 
that of Great Britain to secure a concentration of the powers 
indispensably necessary for active service and the management 
of great interests. 

The simple college system that has answered our purpose 
well for two hundred and fifty years is becoming inadequate 
to the increasing demands of the present day. The rapid 
growth, within a few years, of the natural sciences and the 
application of their principles to the mechanic arts, has given 
rise to a large number of professional and polytechnical schools 
that divert hundreds of young men from the classic shades of 
our higher institutions of learning. These in many cases 
admit pupils without much preparation, allow them large 
liberty, require only a smattering of learning and send them 
out to the world with high sounding titles, but with no mental 
discipline or culture. This is threatening to diminish the 
number of educated men in our country. The groMang evil I 
have described is not confined to the United States, it is also 
found in Great Britian and Germany. " The present alarming 
decline in the number of students attending the Uiliversity of 
Berlin, '^ says Bishop Hurst, " cannot be accounted for on the 
ground of increase of expense of living. The new attention 
given to mechanics and the natural sciences, has brouglit into 
successful working a large class of polytechnic and other 
institutions of popular grade that have made fearful inroads 
upon most of the universities." 

As far as we are concerned, the remedy is to be found in the 
establishment of a certain number of true American Univer- 
sities which shall conserve all that is good in our present 
college system, and convert the superficial and heterogeneous 
studies of our professional schools into means of culture as 
well as into a preparation for life's work. 



30 

The typical College of America should be retained] and 
encouraged to develop in the future, as it has done in the past, 
the man, and to build up a noble character by means of well 
arranged studies and discipline. It should remain slightly higher 
than the German gymnasium in the character of the branches 
taught, and in the breadth of its culture. The time devoted to 
disciplinary and systematic studies should as at present, con- 
tinue to be not less than four years, but the last two of these 
should be partly devoted to electives that naight serve as a 
natural transition to the University Course. Even these 
studies, however, should be such as to make scholars rather 
than to be a mere preparation f or a prof ession, or calling in life. 
When all the requirements of the collegiate department are 
fully met, and the examinations satisfactorily passed, the 
dep'ree of B. A. or B. Sc. should be conferred to indicate the 
literary standing of the graduates. 

The American university should include not only one or 
more of these colleges for culture and discipline, but also the 
four Faculties known as those of Theology, Law, Medicine and 
Philosophy, and, I think, the more technical departments of 
Dental Surgery, Pharmacy and Civil Engineering. Those 
who have received the degrees of B. A. and B. Se. should be 
admitted to any of these departments on the presentation of 
their diplomas. The Theological Faculty should furnish all 
candidates for the ministry, and others wishing to study 
Divinity as a branch of learning, with a course of systematic 
and practical theology extending over three years' time. At 
the expiration of this period the students having the degree of 
B. A., and having finished their work satisfactorily should 
receive the degree of M. A. 

There should be, also, under the care of this Faculty, a post- 
graduate course for those desiring to pursue advanced studies, 
ending with an examination on certain branches for the degree 
of B. D. 

The Legal Faculty should furnish a course of instruction in 
law, extending over three years. This cou.rse should include 
some studies for general culture as well as those preparatory 
for a profession. As in Germany, it should include the his- 



31 

tory and philosophy of Jurisprudence as well as the knowledge 
of the common and statute law. At the end of this course, 
the students having the degree of B. A. or B. Sc. should be 
entitled to the degree of M, A. or M. Sc. A post-graduate 
course of at least one year should be added for advanced 
studies with an examination on certain branches for the degree 
of LL. B. 

The Medical Faculty should have a graded course, running 
over three years. This should include not only the theory and 
practice of medicine, but some studies also for general culture. 
All those having the degrees of B. A. or B. Sc. should receive, 
at the end of this course, the degree of M. A. or M. Sc. and 
M. D. A post-graduate course for original investigation, 
clinical and hospital work, should form a part of this depart- 
ment with an examination on certain advanced studies for the 
degree of Sc. D. 

The Philosophical Faculty should furnish opportunities for 
advanced studies in Physical and Mental Science, Philology 
and general Literature as well as for original investigation. 
This should extend over three years with the privilege of pass- 
ing at the close of that time an examination on given studies 
for the degree of P.l~ )D., Sc. D., Litt. D. 

Such an institution might be made to include all that 
could be of real value to us in the British or the Continen- 
tal University. A little more supervision of the students than 
is given in Germany would enable us to avoid the defect com- 
plained of by Dr. Helmholtz, and to increase the percentage 
of good scholars. The multitude of colleges in our counti-y 
would all be needed, and could be made to more than fill the 
place now occupied by the German gymnasia, and, by making 
the professional courses in theology, law, medicine and philo- 
sophy means of culture, as well as a preparation for the pro- 
fessions, we could avoid the fault complained of by some of 
our foremost scholars. By having the enforced recitations of 
Oxford and Cambridge we may secure the concentration of 
soul and body aimed at in their system, and the University 
courses which I have indicated would furnish a larger amount 
of training for the professions than is given to-day in the 



32 

Universities of Great Britain or Ireland. This, in mj judg- 
ment, and not the British or the Continental University, is the 
institution best adapted to train the future preachers, jurists, 
statesmen, physicians, scientists, teachers, and literati of this 
rising Republic of the West. 

What are the elements necessary to ensure the success of 
such an institution in our country? The first is 2, favorable 
location. This gives rise to a number of questions which time 
will not admit of my answering in detail. As to whether the 
city or the country is the better location for a college or a 
university, it may be said that each has its advantages and 
disadvantages. Commercial and political centres have many 
social distractions and temptations for the young. The air 
and spirit of such places are not helpful to thoughtfulness, or 
conducive to study. The country, on the other hand, is want- 
ing in some of the incitements and refinements of life, but it 
affords better opportunities for hard study, and enjoys greater 
freedom from the temptations that distract the mind of youth. 

Without undertaking to decide this question, it may safely 
be said that what might be a good site for a College would 
not be suitable at all for a University. A College should be 
located in a healthful spot, a moral comm(|^:iity, and the centre 
of a considerable population. In addition to this, a University 
ought to be in or near a place where theological students can 
find fields in which to exercise their gifts ; where the students 
of Law can attend the sessions of court and hear legal pleadings; 
where medical students can attend clinical lectures and have 
hospital practice; and where students of Philosophy can find 
access to large libraries for their special work. ]^one but a 
central position in or near a great city can afford all these 
advantages. 

It is a mistake to name those institutions Universities which 
are limited by their location and constituency, or to expect 
that they will, in the near future, become such. The country 
needs but a few well endowed and conveniently located Uni- 
versities, but it requires a large number of strong and vigorous 
colleges. The Universities should be established and well 
equipped for the accommodation of the students of this large 



33 

Tinraber of colleges. After completing their classical training 
in tiiis and that college the graduates should be able to lind a 
University of the same tone and spirit as their college, in which 
they might qualify themselves to become eloquent preachers, 
.astute lawyers, skilful physicians, or profound scholars. 

The second element of such a University is a well selected 
.and competent Faculty. By a competent Faculty is not 
meant one whose members are ponderous encyclopaedias of all 
kinds of knowledge. They may be that without being com- . 
petent instructors. There are scores of men in our colleges 
■who have a sufficient amount of knowledge to hll almost any 
<ihair, but they have not the ability to impart that knowledge 
to others. By a competent Faculty, therefore, I mean one 
whose members keep abreast of the times in educational 
matters, possess accurate knowledge of the studies in their 
•department, and are able to impart to others what they them- 
selves know. 

Competent instructors must have practical knowledge of 
men as well as ability to teach. This is necessary to an under- 
standing of the peculiarities and capacities of the students, and 
to the adoption of the right way of treating them. A defect 
in this regard is soon detected, and advantage is often taken 
■of it to torture the instructor. I have known more than one 
college Professor thoroughly equipped for his work, as far as 
knowledge was concerned, but utterly incompetent to ]')erform 
the duties of his chair for the lack of tact to manage his classes. 

Those who lecture to or catechise the young two or three 
times a day for four consecutive years should be models of 
Christian life and demeanor. This is one of the important 
means of building up that noble character which is to exert an 
influence for good in the world. It is the glory of our Amer- 
ican colleges that the students come in daily contact witn the 
leaders of thought and models of culture. Who can estimate 
the advantages derived from sitting for four years at the feet 
of such men as Jonathan Edwards, Mark Hopkins, or Theo- 
dore T. Woolsey! Not only the President, but every member 
of the Faculty should be a living example of all that is high 
and noble in learning and religion. 



34 

It cannot be doubted that the Faculty, more than anything 
else, gives character to a college or a university. The names 
and labors of its members constitute its main strength and 
recommendation. A body of men possessing the qualifications 
I have described would make a great college in almost any 
place where students can be found. The late Professor 
Agassiz would be surrounded in a log cabin, or a dug-out, by 
men desirous of hearing his explanation of the mysteries of 
life; Prof. Whitney would have a class of philologists at New 
Hebrides as well as at ISTew Haven; and President M'Cosh 
would be followed to the Catskills and the coast of Maine by 
students anxious to be led by him through the labyrinths of 
psychology and metaphysics. 

The third element of the American University is a carefully 
arranged and well rounded course of study. As the chief aim 
of the College is to develop the man, or to build up a noble 
character, the curriculum should be arranged Avith that ex- 
pressly in view. Since Juvenal's aphorism, " mens sana in 
corpore sano," is still true, provision should be made for 
physical culture. The fact that some of our Eastern colleges 
are running to extremes in this direction should not deter any 
University from furnishing a proper amount of it. Boating, 
base-ball playing, or gymnastic exercises are indispensable 
accessories of a great institution of learning. The surround- 
ings must, of course, decide the kind of recreations best 
adapted. If there be no boating facilities the students must 
content themselves with base-ball games, and if there should 
be no opportunity for base-ball playing, they must confine 
themselves to gymnastic exercises. In all cases, there must be 
rational restrictions and professional supervision. Undue de- 
velopment of the muscles is incompatible with a symmetrical 
character and unfavorable to the highest kind of mental cul- 
ture. " Athletes," says one of the old Greek philosophers, 
" are intellectually a sluggish set who doze away their lives, 
and enjoy but imperfect health." Hence the only kind and 
degree of physical culture that should be advocated is that 
which is essential to vigorous health and clearness of intellect. 
More than this is sure to absorb the students' interest and 



6b 

consume the energies that should be devoted to mental and 
moral training. 

Mere animal strength, like the mechanical powers, must be 
turned into a handmaid of superior intelligence. Even those 
subtle forces which set in motion every joint and member of 
the bodily frame are subject to the immaterial part of man. 
Hence the highest vocation of a University is to train the mind 
and the heart. To this end the studies must be arranged. The 
views of those who hold that there is no study so well adapted 
to mental discipline as that of languages are unquestionably 
correct. The Greek and the Latin are far better for this pur- 
pose than the modern languages, however copious and useful. 
They can be studied in their objective forms, whilst the 
modern tongues are too closely identified for that purpose with 
the spontaneous and unconscious processes of our thought. 
They are called dead, not because they are destitute of life or 
deprived of living power; but, on the contrary, they are in- 

stir.r-t 'vvit^^ ^^'^-^ ""'"'' *"~^^ ^* ^^^-.tt^i. T^.r^.. r,,.r^ AanA nnlv nc 

OLXllOb VVAUJlJ. J.±J.v^ ».»;aa^i. ^hj-a ^ ±. L/ v_^ . i x^ j. . _M_jLiv>t l.*;j. v^ VAtJctLl UlliV tt fe' 

the crystal is dead — lasting in fixed unchanging beauty and 
perfection, the jewelry of the mind. The classics are not only 
a means of mental discipline, but they are useful also. Mr 
John Stuart Mill avers that the Latin language " makes it 
easier to learn four or five of the Continental languages than 
it is to learn one of them without it." " The student who haS' 
mastered the elements of Greek and Latin," says President 
Porter, " has gone much further in the way of intelligent 
knowledge of language generally than one who has gone far 
beyond the elements of French and German. This is explained 
by the fact that the structure of the classical tongues is com- 
plicated yet clear, ramified yet regular, artificial yet symmet- 
rical, objective yet artistic; and that in all these features 
Greek and Latin are pre-eminent above the modern tongues." 
In digging after the Greek and Latin roots, the student must 
go down to the hidden foundations of empires and republics,, 
philosophy and religion. By studying the rich lore of the 
classic tongues he is enabled to trace the inner life of the most 
important nations of antiquity and follow the moral and 
intellectual march of the ages. 



36 

As a corrective to excesses, sometimes encouraged by the 
exclusive study of the classics, mathematics have an important 
place in every college curriculum. " Though less genial than 
language," as another has said, " yet mathematics are more 
august, while equally with language they develop in and claim 
from the student a high form of mental activity amid the vast 
works and mighty thoughts of God. Standing at the head of 
the natural sciences they give its formulas for the expounding 
of each in turn. At the doorway of the arts they are ready to 
furnish a passport indispensable alike to the builder, engineer 
and maker of whatever calls for either strength or beauty." 
Mathematics are prescribed by Lord Bacon " as the remed}^ 
•and cure of many defects in the wit and intellectual faculties 
■of men. If the wut be dull they sharpen it; if too wandering 
they fix it; if too deeply inherent in the sense they abstract it." 
There is no process of instruction to be compared with mathe- 
matical studies to toughen the mental sinews, or to give them 
hardness and strength, quickness and skill. 

A course of study in these days without a liberal share of 
the natural sciences would be incomplete, and ill adapted to our 
age and country. These are better fitted to teach the mind to 
observe, discriminate and classify than the mathematics or the 
classics. Tliey hold the mind rigorously to facts and restrain 
the natural tendency of youth to vague theories and groundless 
hypotheses. They may be used not only to teach the mind to 
observe and classify, but also to quicken it for work. Geology 
may be employed not only to lead the student into the bowels 
of the earth, but also to dazzle his eyes and excite his wonder 
by eliciting from dead and loathsome substances colors sur- 
passing in beauty and attractiveness those of the rainbow. 
Natural philosophy may excite his admiration by sending in a 
few seconds to India, or the islands of the sea, the last dis- 
covery in science or invention in art; by dispatching to 
London, the quotations of the Kew York market; or to Ber- 
lin, the last decision of the American Cabinet on some question 
of State. Astronomy may reveal to him not only a boundless 
field of hard and intricate study, but stars and nebulae shining 
as gems in the diadem of the King of Kings. 



37 

Modern languages cannot be neglected in an American uni- 
versity. In the past, and even at the present time, our own 
tongue does not hold the high position to which it is entitled 
in all our colleges. Many of their graduates though well 
drilled in Greek and Latin cannot write correctly their mother 
tongue. This should be corrected at once for the comfort of 
the student as well as for the credit of the college. Since the 
world has been contracted to about one-half its original size 
by the use of steam, electricity and the telephone, and travel- 
ing has become so common, our liberally educated men should 
be taught two or three of the spoken languages of the world. 
The relation which we hold to the leading nations of Europe 
are such as to demand of our leaders of thought a knowledge 
of at least the French and the German. 

1*^0 course of study can be regarded as complete without a, 
goodly amount of philosophy — mental and moral — to bind 
together the other branches of human knowledge, and to show 
their mutual dependence and harmonious relations. The edu- 
cated man is supposed to know the end at which he is aiming 
and the means best adapted to reach that end. He is taught 
this by philosophy. "All human knowledge and sciences 
except as they are organized and vitalized by the principles 
which pervade them all and give them unity and relation are,' 
in the words of another, " a rope of sand. It is philosophy 
which gives to knowledge its legitimate and peculiar power, and 
puts the mind which possesses it in a position both to control 
itself, and to guide and subordinate other things to its own 
high ends and uses." 

In this way a provision is made in the collegiate department 
to develope the M^hole man and to introduce him to the three 
great divisions of the universe, namely, nature, man and God. 
The natural sciences teach him to observe, discriminate, and 
classify the objects around him ; physics introduces him to the 
forces of nature and the use of those forces for his good;, 
psychology opens to him the mysteries of the soul and gives, 
him some acquaintance with Jiimself ; logic and rhetoric teach 
him to arrive at correct conclusions and to express himself with 
power and precision; ethics explains to him the great springs. 



38 

of action, and the way in which he is to conduct himself 
towards his fellow men ; political science lays before him the 
ground of his allegiance to the State and the principles of citi- 
zenship; history opens before him the past and the secrets of 
national progress; and the study of natural and revealed reli- 
gion teaches him how he is to justify his belief in the Bible 
and the universe as the works of the same God. 

The courses of study for the ■p7'qfessional dejpart'ments of 
the American Univej-sity are not intended to develop the 
man so much as to prepare him to perform well the duties of 
his calling. In this branch of the university the calling is put 
above the man as the man is put above his calling in the col- 
legiate department. Without going over these in detail, I 
would say that the studies to be pursued in the theological, 
law, medical, philosophical and other departments should be 
the best adapted to make preachers, lawyers, physicians, den- 
tists, philosophers, scientists and artists. They should occupy at 
least three years, with an opportunity to carry them on to 
still greater perfection when desirable. 

All this, alas! requires more time than the majority of our 
youth are willing to give it. Everything in our day is done in 
a hurry and on a high pressure principle. The all-important 
question is not, how a thing can be done best, but how it can 
be done the cheapest and the quickest. This is true of build- 
ing up a noble character as well as of constructing a great rail- 
way. The catalogues of our colleges and universities disclose 
the humiliating fact that proficiency and thoroughness are sac- 
rificed to speed and cheapness. All over the land, especially 
in the busy West, young men and women are educated in a 
hurry. They are furnished with doubtful helps and led 
through short cuts to the professions. Flogged through the 
forms of a grammar school, whipped over the surface of a col- 
lege course, they are sent spinning into society like so many 
humming-tops, with heads light, principles unformed, and 
powers of mind unprepared to expound an intricate passage 
of scripture, unravel a difficult question of law, or work out 
the diagnosis of a critical case. The consequence is that we 
have but few first-class scholars, and only a limited number of 



39 

men capable of filling important college chairs. Even these 
in many cases have been to Europe to finish their education. 
This state of things ought not to continue. 

The other element of the American University is proper en- 
couragement to high scholarship. It has been found necessary 
in every age and country to offer something in the way of 
inducement to study. In some countries it is eligibility to 
office in Church or State, in other countries it is money, and in 
others it is standing in the community. The most complete 
system of prizes is that in vogue in Germany. Yery little 
money is distributed there, but that is given which the 
students value more than money. The civil and ecclesiastical 
appointments are determined by the results of every examina- 
tion, from the beginning of the gymnasia to the end of the 
university life. Powerful as is the infiuence of this system 
upon the leading scholars, it fails utterly to reach the poor or 
even the moderate ones. The University of Oxford distributes 
yearly in scholarships as much as half or three quarters of a 
million of dollars among fewer than 500 students. It is easy 
to conjecture what an incitement to study so large a sum of 
money must be. 

We have nothing in this country analogous to the German 
system. Even if civil service reform should be conscientiously 
carried out it is hardly to be supposed that scholarship will be 
for generations, if ever, the ground of success. ISTone of our col- 
leges have such sums of money to distribute yearly as are found 
at Oxford and Cambridge. For some time at least, American 
Colleges must content themselves with three kinds of incite- 
ments to study, namely, the marking system, which indicates 
the student's standing in his class and appeals to his self-respect 
or to the spirit of emulation ; the scholarship system, which 
enables a young man to enjoy the privileges of a liberal educa- 
tion, if his progress in his studies be satisfactory to the insti- 
tution and its benefactors; and the fellowship system, which 
enables men of high scholarship to continue their studies for 
one or two years at home or abroad. All these are a great 
help, but something more is needed to secure the best results. 
No more commendable object for the benefaction of the rich 



40 

and liberal can be suffffested than the establishment of scholar- 
ships and fellowships in our colleges and universities. It is to> 
be hoped that many of them will soon imitate Henry lY, 
Edward YI, Queen Elizabeth, and Charles II in establishing 
valuable fellowships for the encouragement of high culture. 

Some may object to this on the ground that the first scholars,. 
according to j)opular belief, do not turn out in the end as well 
as those who did not distinguish themselves in college. Whilst 
this may be true of an individual here and there it cannot be 
laid down as an acknowledged fact. A large number of well 
known names of our own countrymen might be mentioned 
who distinguished themselves first in the class-room. It is 
safe to say that the majority of our scholars, ministers, states- 
men, physicians and authors who have become famous in their 
respective spheres were men of mark and acknowledged abilitj 
in college. 

This is equally true of our cousins across the sea. Lord 
Macaulay tells us that there never was a fact proved by a. 
larger mass of evidence or a more unvaried experience than 
this : that men who distinguish themselves in their youth above 
their contemporaries almost always keep to the end of their 
liv^es the start whicli they have gained. Take the Oxford 
Calendar and compare the list of first-class men with an equal 
number in the third class. "Is not our history," he asks, "full 
of instances which prove this fact? Look at the Church or 
the Bar. Look at Parliament from the time that parliament- 
ary government began in this country — from the days of 
Montague and St. John to those of Canning and Robert Peel. 
Look to India. The ablest man who ever governed India was- 
Warren Hastings; was he not in the front rank at Westmin- 
ster? The general rule is beyond all doubt that the men who 
were first in the competition of the schools, have been first in 
the competition of the world." 

It is the determination of the Board of Trustees to make 
Lake Forest the ideal American University I have described. 
They have been most happy in the selection of a site. I have 
yet to find a place East or West better adapted for a great 
institution of learning than this high bluff overlooking the 



41 

blue waters of Lake Michigan. It combines advantages anJ 
attractions rarely found in the same locality. Here is a native- 
forest to furnish the classic shade, the romantic walks, and 
the students' retreats. Here are deep ravines spanned by 
rnstic bridges to supply the winding foot-paths, the weird 
glens, and the nooks for scholarly meditation. Here are,, 
also, an invigorating climate, a most excellent society, and an^ 
absolute freedom from many of the temptations which usually 
beset youth in other places. 

The University, as heretofore constituted, has had three depart- 
ments, namely, the Academy, the College, and Ferry Hall- 
The tirst is an intermediate or preparatory school. In the- 
educational system of the United States the weakest place is in. 
the middle. The public schools are for tlie most part, excellent,, 
and many of the colleges and the universities are doing as- 
thorough work as the majority of the Universities of Europe. 
But, between these, there is a gap which must be tilled before 
our education can be of the highest kind. Outside New Eng- 
land, and possibly the State of Michigan, there are but few in- 
termediate schools or academies of high grade. The result is- 
that our students are 230orly prepared for college, and, those' 
who do not go through college, are not sufficiently trained for 
all the duties of life. The Academy connected with Lake 
Forest University is intended to meet this crying need of the- 
Northwest. It is our purpose to put it within a sliort time on. 
a footing with Phillips Academy or Lawrence ville School. It 
will, the coming year, furnish students with thorough prepar- 
ation for Lake Forest University, or any of our Eastern Col- 
leges, and give a reasonable amount of education to those who- 
do not intend to enter college. The proximity of the Academy 
to the University enables some of the Professors to hear classes- 
during the last year of the course, and also affords the students- 
an opportunity to mingle with those of the College and to 
catch some of their literary polish and thirst for read- 
ing. 

The College is put on the same footing with the best of 
Eastern Colleges. It seeks to develop harmoniously all the 
powers of the mind and body, and to build up a noble characteE- 



42 

\)j well arranged (^.otirs^s of study and discij)line. It includes all 
'the brandies of study in the Classical and Philosophical Depart- 
ments which I have already named as necessary to a thorough 
•education. After pursuing the prescribed course to the end of the 
■Sophomore year the pupils are allowed in the Philosophic as 
well as in the Classical departments to have their choice of 
studies within reasonable and carefully defined limits. They are 
'compelled to master what have been regarded through the ages 
as the elements of a liberal education, and after that, they have 
the privilege of making a selection of studies agreeable to their 
"taste and preparatory to the work of their future calling or 
profession. Thus is presented the happy medium of a suffi- 
'cient number of disciplinary studies to form a foundation for the 
highest scholarship, and an election of as many studies as the 
tastes and contemplated pursuits of the pupils may demand. 
All these advantages are extended to young women as well as 
to young men. The two sexes are admitted to all the privileges 
■of the College on equal terms. They are permitted to attend 
the same lectures and recitations, and to enjoy the instruction 
of the same Professors. A pleasant home named in honor of 
-Miss Mitchell, the distinguished astronomer, has been provid- 
ed for the young women who pursue a collegiate course. This 
is under the care of a clergyman and his wife, who aim to make 
for its inmates as complete a substitute as possible for the 
homes they leave behind them. 

The fact that there are many parents who do not wish their 
daughters to mingle daily in the class-room with young men 
has not been overlooked. Ferry Hall furnishes young women 
not only with the ordinary studies of a Female Seminary; 
but, also, with a collegiate course identical with that of 
the College. In the main, the same Professors give instruc- 
tion and the same text-books are used. The collegiate 
students in Ferry Hall form a part of the corresponding 
class in college and receive the same degrees at the end of 
the course. If, at any time, these students should desire to 
attend certain lectures or recitations with the rest of the class, 
they are allowed to do so by notifying the Faculty of their 
desire. With such an arrangement, co-education need not 



43 

'■deter any young woman from enjoying in Lake Forest Uni- 
versity all the benefits of a collegiate course. 

Steps have been taken to associate with our College the 
•University faculties, or professional schools, recognized every- 
where as belonging to such an institution. The foundation of 
the Philosophical Faculty, as it is called in Germany, has 
-already been laid in a post-graduate course of three years in 
length. This is to include original investigation in astronomy, 
biology, physics, electricity, and philology, under the super- 
vision of professors in those departments. Advanced studies, 
-also, will be arranged, and instruction given by the University 
jDrofessors as well as by those of the college. The course 
will be enlarged in this department as fast as the number of 
'the professors and instructors Avill admit of it. Efforts will 
be made to give a thorough course of instruction in all the 
'branches of learning taught in the Universities of Europe. 

With great gratification, and not a little pride, I am able to 
^announce that the medical faculty of this University is as large 
■and proficient as that of any in the country. Instead of at- 
tempting to found a new medical school that would require a 
large amount of money, stir up emulation, if not strife, and 
take years to reach a point of much usefulness and efficiency, 
we have been able to associate with us, the well known and re- 
nowned Rush Medical College, with its Presbyterian Hospital, 
as our medical department. Such a consummation will be 
hailed by friends of learning and science as a good omen for 
which the l!^orthwest, and Chicago in particular, should be 
thankful, Kot only the University as a whole, but Rush 
Medical College with its four thousand alumni, five hundred 
•students and noble corps of Professors, will take a new depart- 
'iire upward and onward in the medical science. 

There is, also, associated with us a vigorous and most 
"promising College of Dental Surgery. Its present require- 
■ments are identical with those of the Dental Colleges connected 
with Harvard and with the University of Michigan. It is pre- 
pared to furnish those who wish to become dentists with as 
complete training as they can find East or West, 

It is expected that, within a short time, a Theological De- 



44 

partment equal to any in the land will be associated with Lake- 
Forest University. Inquiries have been made as to whether 
or not the two German theological schools now located at 
Bloomfield, ISTew Jersey, and Dubuque, Iowa, may not be con- 
solidated and made a part also of the theological faculty of 
Lake Forest University. This is one of the details to be set- 
tled in the future. 

I take pleasure in expressing, not only the hope but the 
strongest conviction, that before this time next year the great 
Dearborn Observatory of Chicago will crown the summit of 
this beautiful bluff. By the aid of its grand telescope ChicagO' 
will be able not only to regulate the railroad time for the 
N^orthwest, but also to mark the movements of the stars, and 
decipher the hieroglyphics of the heavens. 

ISTot much has been done yet towards establishing, or asso- 
ciating with ns, a Law Department, but that, too is included 
in the plan to be carried out during the coming year. It is 
confidently expected that a University of a grade that will: 
commend itself to lovers of learning all over the land will be- 
in full operation here in a short time. The college and the- 
philosophical department, the Academy and Ferry Hall are- 
located and will remain in this beautiful and rural place, which; 
is conducive to study and meditation, and the professional de- 
partments of medicine and dental surgery are located in the 
city of Chicago. Thus, the University dreamed of, if not seen 
by some of the far sighted men and women of the JSTorthwest is. 
here to-day a visible, tangible reality. 

Friends and jpatrons of higher education in the Worth- 
west: 

You have been told by others as well as by me that the most: 
pressing need of this part of our country is such an institution 
as I have described. We have a sufficient number of colleges 
and so-called Universities, and the majority of them are doing 
commendable work, but they are not meeting all our needs. 
In other fields the supply is eqnal to the demand. We have 
railways enough to meet the calls of our rapidly increasing 
commerce; we have business houses in abundance to accom- 



45 

-raodate our trade; we have residences in sufficient number to 
supply all our people with comfortable homes ; we have school 
buildings, polytechnic institutions and professional colleges 
for all who desire the instruction they furnish, but we have not 
liad as yet a University in the N^orthwest to supply our gifted 
joung men and women with the highest kind of classical and 
scientific training. That class of youth at present, go East 
or to Europe to pursue their studies. Some of these would 
probably go there even if we had institutions that would 
furnish them with all they desired, but they ought not to be 
made to feel that it is a necessity to go thither. Hundreds 
•of youth in the ISTorthwest would be glad to avail them- 
selves of the best training and highest culture if they could 
obtain it in or near Chicago. How long will our generous 
men of broad views and long purses allow this state of things 
to continue? It is galling to our pride to be told that Chicago 
and its suburbs are ready to expend millions in the construc- 
tion of railways, factories, banks, commercial houses and 
palatial dwellings to display our material wealth, when not a 
single first-class college or university can be supported. Has 
not the time come when the j)arings at least of great fortunes 
shall be devoted to intellectual improvement and true cult- 
ure? 

Happily no part of our land is wanting in noble patrons of 
education. Without going far back into the j)ast, I may name 
a number of men who have devoted millions of their money 
. to the cause of higher education. Princeton College has risen 
from a condition crippled by the late Civil War to be one of 
our foremost universities, through the princely gifts of the 
late John C. Green, of New York. Cornell proudly crowns a 
hill on the banks of Cayuga Lake as a noble monument to the 
man who spent upon it his millions. Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity overtops the loftiest monument of our monumental city, 
and shows the sagacity of the plain Quaker in supplying one 
of the greatest needs of our land. Lehigh University, which 
nestles in the bosom of one of the beautiful valleys of Penn- 
sylvania, is the recipient of four or five millions from one of 
the coal kings of Schuylkill county. The late Paul Tulane 



4K 

planted at New Orleans a University that is destined to sendi 
streams of blessing through the Gulf States and the regions,, 
adjacent thereto; and Senator Stanford meaps to furnish the- 
Pacific Coast, where he has amassed his riches, with the most-, 
magnificent institution of learning in the world. Has not the- 
Northwest among its numerous millionaires- one or more men 
that will aid in blessing this region with a similar institution?," 
Lake Forest has a situation equal, if not superior, to any of. 
the universities 1 have named. It commands a population 
amounting already to ten millions, and mp,y exert an influence- 
for good over this great valley which is larger in extent of 
territory than the Roman Empire when it extended from the- 
banks of the Euphrates to the pillars of Hercules. 

This region of country needs a great Christian University, 
not only to supply it with the highest culture, but also to 
afford it protection against threatening evils. Recent 
events have shown that it is full of combustible materials. 
which may at any moment explode to, the ruin of business and. 
the destruction of life. The questions are daily asked, what is 
anarchism, that is menacing our safety and, defying our laws?; 
What is nihilism that is causing so much uneasiness, at home 
and abroad? What is socialism, that is threatening to sap the 
foundations of society East and West? I answer that they are- 
the scarlet rash, the boils and the festering sores that reveal the 
poisoned condition of the blood of our body politic. We may 
employ salves, and bind up wounds, but that will not remove 
all the perils to life and health. For a time we may suppress 
anarchism by force of arms, check nihilism by legal, proceed- 
in o-s, and put down socialism by public sentiment. But, llie- 
disease will still remain uncured and ready at the slightest 
provocation to break ont. again. Nothing but the gospel,^. 
backed up by Christian institutions of learning will comr 
pletely irradicate it. History tells us that in the past, reforms . 
and the removal of evils have been brought about largely by 
university men. "The political revolution in, England, in,, 
spired by the Reformation, was directed," says George William . 
Curtis, "by University men. John Pym in the Commons.,. 
John Hampden in. the field,. J,olm Milton in the Cabinet-^- 



47 

three Johns, and all of them well beloved discilpljes of liberty- 
— with the grim Oliver himself, purging England of rojalj 
despotism and avenging the slaughtered, saints of Alpine, 
mountains cold, were all of them chiildj-en of Oxford and 
Cambridge. In the next century like a dawn, lurid but bright, 
the French Revolution broke upon the world. But the only 
hope of a wise direction of the elemental, forces that upheaved 
France vanished when the educated leadership lost control,., 
and Murat became the genius and type of the. Revolution. 
Ireland also bears her witness to what I have said. As its, 
apostle and tutelary saint was a scholar, its long despair of' 
justice has found its voice and its hand; among educated 
Irishmen. Swift and Molyneux, Flood anid Gratta,n and 
O'Coimell, Burke and Leckey and D.uff}^ and the young- 
enthusiasts around Thomas Davis, who sang of an Erin that 
never was, and dreamed, of an Ireland thf^t cannot be, were 
men of the Colleges and the Schools whose long persistence of' 
tongue and pen has fostered the life of their country, and 
gained for her all that she has won. For modern Italy, let 
Silvio Pellico and Foresti and Maroncelli answer. It was 
Italian education which Austria sought to smpther, and it was 
not less Cavour than Garibaldi who gave constitutional liberty 
to Italy. When Germany sank at Jena under the heel of' 
Napoleon, and when Stein— whom Napoleon haced but could 
not appall — asked if national life survived, tlie answer rang 
from the Universities, and from thei^i modern Germany came 
forth. With prophetic impulse Theodore Koerner called his, 
poem 'The Lyre and the Sword,' for, like the love which 
changed the sea-nymph into the harp, the fervent 
patriotism of the educated youth of Germany turned the- 
poet's lyre into the soldier's victorious sword. It is our duty 
to learn lessons from our brethren, first in every Qouncil, dead^ 
upon helds of freedom from the Yolga to the Rhine, from. 
John O'Groat's to the Adriatic, who have steadily drawn, 
Europe from out of the night of despotism and hj^ve vindi- 
cated for the educated class the leadership of modern civil 7. 
ization. 

" In America, as in England and; Qermany, th^y were edu-. 



48 

•cated men who, in the pulpit, on the platform and through 
the press, conducted the mighty preliminary argument of the 
Revolution, defended the ancient traditions of English liberty 
against reactionary England, aroused the colonies to maintain 
the cause of human nature, and led them from the Gaspe and 
JBunkej" Hill across the plains of Saratoga, the snows of Yalley 
Forge, the sands of Monmouth, the hills of Carolina, until at 
Yorktown once more the King surrendered to the people, and 
■educated America had saved constitutional liberty; and in the 
next critical period, when through the travail of a half anar- 
chial confederation the independent states rose into a consti- 
tutional republic, the good genius of America was still the 
educated mind of the country." 

Whilst we thank the Federal Government for establishing 
near us a powerful post upon which we may fall back in case 
of emergency, we have greater faith in the permanency of the 
protection afforded us by the institutions of learning which dot 
our plains and adorn our sea coast and the shores of our lakes. 
The men and the women who have established and support 
these institutions are doing more for liberty, good government 
and religion, than the same number of statesmen and soldiers. 

The objection may be made to Lake Forest University that 
it is sectarian, and consequently not a fair representative of the 
people of this community. It is not more sectarian than Har- 
vard, Yale or Princeton. Whilst it is a Christian institution 
under the supervision of the Presbyterian Church, it is not 
conducted in her sole interest. The students are drawn from 
Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants, without distinc- 
tion of creeds, or respect of persons. It is the result of long 
experience that our colleges and universities as they become 
distinguished for thoroughness of training and culture, lose 
sight of the narrow denominational barriers and learn to em- 
phasize the common relation of all to culture, and to the great 
head of the church. 

Why then, it may be asked, should not the university belong 
in common to all the branches of the Christian church? It 
gives me pleasure to let the honored ex -President of Yale Col- 
lege answer this question. "A college in which several de- 



49 

nominations have a partial interest," says Dr. Porter, " will 
inevitably be divided and dishonored by ignoble sectarian 
strife. The several denominations whicli hold it in common 
will regard each other with that eternal vigilance which in 
such cases easily degenerates into perpetual suspicion, its offi- 
cers will be elected and its policy will be determined with a 
judgment divided between the interests of the sect." 

Why not let the university be the property of none, or of 
the State? The veteran educator shall be allowed to answer 
this question also. "The objection to this," he says, " is that 
it will immediately become the object of the ambition or the 
victim of the strife of some one or more religions sects with 
never-ending discussions, which must inevitably follow, or it 
will have no religious character at all. In the present divided 
condition of Christendom, there seems to be no solution of the 
problem, except the one which has been accepted in this country, 
namely, that the college should be in the hands of some sin- 
gle denomination, in order to secure unity and effect to its 
religious character and influence, and that it should be pre 
served from sectarian bias and illiberality by its responsibility 
to the community which it undertakes to mold, and the 
enlightened and catholic influences of the culture to which it 
is devoted." 

I shall only add that, " as between terms of reproach, if sec- 
tarianism is fairly charged on the one side, godlessness may be 
as fairly retorted on the other, and if a purely secular college 
will attract a certain portion of the community, positively reli- 
gious colleges will attract another. If the two sorts of colleges 
are fairly tried, the fruits of the two will be made manifest. 
It will be seen after a generation, whether christianized science, 
art, literature, has any advantage over that which is unchristian 
or non-christian, whether the education and culture which are 
elevated by the christian faith, have any advantage over those 
which are secular and atheistic. One thing is certain, that all 
the experiments which have been tried in this country to con- 
duct institutions of learning without christian worship and 
christian influences have failed ; that all the so-called State col- 
leges have, in some sort, been forced to adopt, either directly 



50 

or indirectly, the same methods of religions inflnence which 
are employed in the christian colleges; that, in the choice of 
their officers, tliey have largely given the preference to men of 
positive and earnest christian faith, for their greater usefulness 
as teachers and their greater acceptableness to the community." 
The supervision which the church gives is the best possible 
guarantee for the economical and proper use of the money 
given or bequeathed to the cause of higher education. Indi- 
viduals die, political corporations often become corrupt; the 
Church lives, and the presumption is that she will see that the 
interests committed to her keeping are honestly administered 
and steadily advanced. 



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